Bought new by my granddad in England. He was a Canadian diplomat and this bike has followed him from England to China, India, various South Pacific islands, Barbados and finally back to Ottawa, Canada. It served as his main mode of personal transport in all those places. He gave it to me when I moved to Toronto and I used it as my main ride until I moved to Adelaide in 2004. Love those Sturmey Archer AW 3-speeds for city riding! I finally brought it over here a few years ago and use it regularly. Replaced the Sturmey Archer Dynohub with a spool as the SA axle got damaged in transport from Canada. Front fender was also damaged so I currently ride without it until I find a good replacement.

Bought new by my granddad in England. He was a Canadian diplomat and this bike has followed him from England to China, India, various South Pacific islands, Barbados and finally back to Ottawa, Canada. It served as his main mode of personal transport in all those places. He gave it to me when I moved to Toronto and I used it as my main ride until I moved to Adelaide in 2004. Love those Sturmey Archer AW 3-speeds for city riding! I finally brought it over here a few years ago and use it regularly. Replaced the Sturmey Archer Dynohub with a spool as the SA axle got damaged in transport from Canada. Front fender was also damaged so I currently ride without it until I find a good replacement.

That is an amazing history, do you have any pics of your grandad riding it in exotic locales?

And also, update on that Competition frame, I had to hand it over to Joe Cosgrove who's a framebuilder and painter here in Brisbane to get the seized stuff off. He's managed it and I'm picking it up tomorrow. So the frame lives again.

Hi there! New to this and blog/posting, but I thought I'd join after restoring my Raleigh Competition in Team Raleigh Ti colors! I purchased the bike new in 1983 and it is the same as yours save for the stem/bars are SR. I also updated the brakes and the crankset to Campagnolo. FYI the rear derailleur on mine is the same as yours - Campagnolo Gran Sport is the gruppo, although my crankset is Super Record as are the brakes. Wish I knew how to paste a photo on this blog!

The frame was advertised by the seller as Reynolds 501. But one of the cable ties attached to the frame was obscuring the sticker. It's really 531. Result. On the minus side, those Campag shifters are stuck on - the mounting screws won't come loose.

The downside. This dropout adjuster screw is both seized in AND sheared off. I tried tapping it out but it didn't work, obviously, because it's threaded. I know that now. Any ideas on how to get it out gratefully received.

Orbiter wrote:Hi there! New to this and blog/posting, but I thought I'd join after restoring my Raleigh Competition in Team Raleigh Ti colors! I purchased the bike new in 1983 and it is the same as yours save for the stem/bars are SR. I also updated the brakes and the crankset to Campagnolo. FYI the rear derailleur on mine is the same as yours - Campagnolo Gran Sport is the gruppo, although my crankset is Super Record as are the brakes. Wish I knew how to paste a photo on this blog!

I'm planning to do upgrade the parts on mine: Super Record derailleurs, Strada cranks, band-on shifters, and upgrade the brakes to Campy as well. Still need to buy headset, BB, and brakes.

How does yours ride?

Would love to see pics: the 'how-to' is here. faq.php#f3r3 . I upload my snaps to Flickr and then copy the BB code that gives me and just paste it in.

Don't know if you can tell by the pics, but the bike is completely original spec save for the super record chainwheel/crank and brakes.The wheels are singles (glue on tires) specifically, Mavic Red Label rims with Normandy hubs (with the then high tech sealed bearings). The original brakes were crappy Weinmanns.My first 10 speed was a copy of this particular bike, the Raleigh Europa (same paint job, but no 531db frame). I always wanted the Competition model, but it was $$$ at the time. Anyway I happened to be working in the buying office of Myer Stores in 1984 and asked the sporting goods buyer if he could make a special order....it took a while to get here and cost the equiv of a months wages!Ah, the memories! Used to ride it to Healsville (or Lilydale if I was tired) on Saturday afternoons. Then work/life became busier and I stopped riding regularly.In 1994 I rewarded myself with a new Bianchi made by the newly coined Reparto Corse.

Particularly interested to learn that the drop-outs are Zeus as I was reading about them just today in the latest issue of Roleur magazine. Their factory closed in the 80s and it's now used as a kind of drop-in centre for local "youths" who can't get a job because of the financial crisis in Europe. Sad story, given that 30 years ago they employed 100+ people. I guess the same goes, with interest, for the English towns that used to have Raleigh plants.

A month's wages ... that's fired me up to do a good resto on mine.

I'd like to get yr opinion on the tubular tyres. Mine comes with with tubular Raleigh rims which are still in OK condition. I'd like to try to use them, if that fails, get some NOS Mavics. How much trouble are tubs compared to clinchers, and what do you find the advantages are, apart from being more period-correct?

Thanks for getting the pics on site.There are absolutely no advantages with tubulars apart from period correctness!That said, I say it's pretty easy to get on the road again after a puncture in "the olden days"!You could simply take your "spare" out from under the saddle and depending on the age & temperature of the glue on the rim, put the tire on with maybe an extra dab of glue, inflate and get going.Also, Ben, your bike has the original bar tape that mine came with. Yes, plastic gold! It was the '80s!

I can tell you have the original wheels by the red stripe in the center of the hubs - this indicates Normandy - you could probably see "Normandy, made in France" printed on that red stripe.Your hubs also have the plastic ends on the spindle, like mine. The rim profile looks the same as mine, maybe its simply a case of the "Mavic" sticker falling off; unless you have Raleigh stamped on your rims, I'd say they are Mavic.

I replaced the headset with a BBB one, as it was a cheaper solution- the original steel headset wasn't that great but I can see in your pics that you have the original.

And one more detail!Your saddle isn't brown velour. It is the original black suede, just worn and faded. I recall in the late '70s/early '80s how riders loved the new technology in saddles!That saddle was made in Italy, for Brooks. Brooks saddles were thought of as uncomfortable and old hat - they took ages (2 months of Dubbin softner) to break in - an absolute pain! And for the first 2 months your nicks would catch on the saddle due to the DubbinI'm surprised at how Brooks leather is fashionable again. Maybe they "break in" easier these days with new leather treatment technology, but 30 years ago, it was customary to throw away your old fashion leather Brooks and get a new plastic/leather italian saddle!